bladderhead
Zen MBB Master
If I am approaching the bottom of a climb I slow down. I want to get rid of all my lactic acid before Imstart climbing.
Do headwinds affect your speed more than tailwinds?
- Thread starter Osiris
- Start date
One day I was riding from Lander Wyoming down into Colorado and it was blowing 40-50 mph into my face. I was on an upright. It was a very long day. 8 mph took 200-220 watts but if I backed off down to the 150-160 watts range, the speed would go down to 6 mph but another 7 hours riding would have been needed that day compared to 8 mph. It was like I had my own little wind tunnel, fortunately the air is thin at 10,000 feet (rho is very low). I found that focus on the best aero position produced better results than trying to squek out 10-20 more watts over that 18+ hours. A tourist coming the other way stopped and he says, "sucks to be you, I'm doing 38 mph and not even pedaling"".......gee thanks. With that tailwind and 150-160 watts output, I would have been doing 51 mph. If I bumped it up to 220 watts with that tailwind, my speed would have risen to 54 mph saving me a mere 10 minutes for a herculian effort over the 300 km ish distance. The wind wasn't even the worst part of the day.
Why would you have lactic acid? If you are descending in rolling terrain, that is the place to clear lactate and rebuild phosphocreatine.
Balor
Zen MBB Master
Well, lactate is actually good, it is its 'acid' part (H+ ions) that needs clearing by buffer systems.
Btw, completely clearing them is neither possible nor desirable - you'll get more alkaline blood PH than you need to and it can cause cramps as I understand.
I know. Part of what we train is to use lactate. clearing out lactic acid" is just part of the parlance
Balor
Zen MBB Master
Balor
Zen MBB Master
bladderhead
Zen MBB Master
I know less about physiology than I think I do. I just do not want to be out of breath before I even start the climb. It would help if I could leave the belly behind.
I haven't seen any wind tunnel tests on velomobiles in a strong crosswind although I think a Velonaut told me that the Milan is much better in crosswinds (more stable and faster) than the DF. They don't look streamlined from the side to my eye and there is a reason why they need the whole lane descending in windy conditions.Well, your body is bluff. His is actually streamlined
I can't find the article but Jan Heine did a nice job explaining why once you get to 25 mph downhill on a brevet, you should coast and save energy. My bike was faster and I didn't wear baggy clothing but I found the principle works in hilly terrain where it is constant up and down. Most wind conditions? The advantages are not as apparent as my true, real life example in Wyoming. It is pretty easy to see that working hard with a strong downwind is not worth it......actually a good time to digest.
Me too. I sort do the same if I encounter a "wall" but mostly, I just look at it and fret before getting on with it. Hills come in so many flavors that generalizations are hard. People in Florida who think Sugarloaf is a mountain but it would barely pass for a hill in Pennsylvania.
jond
Zen MBB Master
Once I rode in wind so strong I was in 39f 42r and pushing over 250 watts to move forward. I stopped and walked the vendetta over 10 klm. This happened in south Australia near port Augusta.
But wow when I got the tailwind it felt equally ridiculous. From tears to smiles.
Of course everyone knows a vendetta makes its own wind.
But wow when I got the tailwind it felt equally ridiculous. From tears to smiles.
Of course everyone knows a vendetta makes its own wind.
Osiris
Zen MBB Master
Around this time of year we have very heavy winds here in Florida, and it's well known that local cyclists take advantage of this to get better Strava times. The last time a hurricane swept through here, groups of cyclists were shown on the nightly news riding in conditions that most drivers would know to avoid. No doubt they were chasing KOM's.
bladderhead
Zen MBB Master
So they go downwind in a hurricane, then they have to get home again. What do they do, wait for the eye to pass over?
Balor
Zen MBB Master
I daresay grabbing any KOMs on the way back is out of the question...
Osiris
Zen MBB Master
Typically they do it the day after the hurricane has passed. The winds will still be very strong but much more predictable, whereas during the hurricane, the winds seem to blow from every direction at once. No idea how they made their way back, but I suspect they used an indirect route using buildings for protection or had their wives pick them up. Most Northerners here are terrified about the prospect of a hurricane, but to Floridians they're nothing to be concerned about. Here's a photo I took from my drone, showing a couple of cyclists on my favorite bike trail after the last hurricane:
bladderhead
Zen MBB Master
King of the Maelstrom.
bladderhead
Zen MBB Master
So the only reason to use Strava is to keep a record of yourself for yourself, and forget KOM. A bloke told me he had disabled the limiter on his e and it developed power at 40mph. At leas in Zwift there is no way to use e.
